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Victory*: The Illinois Legislature Approves Concealed Carry but More Work to be Done

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On Tuesday afternoon, the Illinois Senate joined the Illinois House in voting to override Governor Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto on the Illinois concealed carry legislation.

What can only be seen as belated good news and a modest step forward came after both the House and Senate gained the needed three-fifths majority to set aside the veto and go forward with the bill approved more than a month ago.

And while Illinois joining the other 49 free states that have concealed carry laws might seem like an occasion to pop the champagne corks, the fact is that the approved bill allows for concealed carry… as long as Illinois citizens are willing to be good boys and girls and do exactly as the government tells them.

Such restriction, I submit, is the very antithesis of a right that is guaranteed to be free from infringements.

The approved bill allows citizens to carry concealed weapons so long as they obtain a Firearms Identification Card (funny, I missed the part about FIDs in the Constitution), have passed a background check, have undergone 16 hours of training (the most of any state) and paid $150 for the right to keep and, more specifically, bear arms.

The news is being touted by the liberal media as a tremendous win for gun rights supporters who have gained a permissive concealed carry law. And to an extent, they’re right. The law does provide a process by which citizens can carry legally and does not invoke the same draconian “may issue” restrictions that plagues New York City- where one can obtain a firearms permit only if they are willing to wait years, pay tons of money and subject themselves to government agents overseeing their possession of firearms.

Further, the approved law comes as a result of the legislature bowing to political realities and overriding Gov. Quinn’s amendatory veto that called for further restrictions, including making sure citizens can carry only one gun at a time and that carrying of such weapons is prohibited in restaurants that serve alcohol.

Liberal logic always amazes me. More than one gun does not increase the likelihood of ill-usage (I, myself, often carry a backup piece) and the restaurant restriction presupposes that a drop of whiskey will turn gun-packing citizens into Yosemite Sam.

While such restrictions may have pleased anti-gunners in Chicago (who would, evidently, prefer a city of unarmed victims available for wholesale slaughter by criminals), the Illinois legislature ultimately passed overrode the veto to avoid further fighting and ensure they meet the deadline mandated by the courts.

Make no mistake: this is terrific news. However, we cannot celebrate just yet. While compromise can be a terrific thing on many issues, the fact remains that the rights already-guaranteed to citizens are not open to re-negotiation and compromise. We should accept this victory, but realize that rights are not things we must pay to use; we must remember that the right to keep and bear arms is prohibited from being infringed upon- even by “common sense” rules that mandate that people take two days off of work to learn how a revolver works.

No; let us enjoy this modest victory but be mindful of the work that remains. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is a societal imperative and as we try and repel tyranny, we must remember that we can ultimately settle for only the Second Amendment- no more, no less.

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